BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Making their first appearance in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals since 2014, the Canisius men's basketball team couldn't outlast Monmouth, falling 70-59 on Sunday evening. The loss eliminated them from a shot at earning an automatic bid to the NCAA DI Tournament.
Canisius and Monmouth were pretty evenly matched, trading baskets for the first ten minutes of the first half. Within the last ten minutes though, Monmouth started to pull away, holding a 12-point lead at one point and led Canisius 35-26 at the break. Canisius was able to cut the lead to three multiple times in the second half but was never able to fully overcome that deficit.
Takal Molson led the Golden Griffs with 17 points and seven rebounds. Jalanni White added 11 points and six rebounds while Malik Johnson finished with 10 points and five assists.
While the Golden Griffs have been eliminated from an automatic bid, they could earn a spot in either the NIT or the CBI postseason tournaments. Those fields will be announced following the release of the NCAA Tournament bracket.
